Mattatuck Trail: Norfield Rd to RT 63

I stashed my bike at the small parking area on RT 63 for the White Memorial Conservation area and then drove down to the Norfield Rd parking area in Black Rock SP. It was a gorgeous day but warming quickly. The bugs were already out.



Most of the wild flowers were already gone but I did see these guys. No idea what they are.




The trail cuts across a number of ridges and ravines so its always either climbing or dropping. A number of the ravines had little waterfalls like this one.





Eventually the trail reached the narrow low ridge shown below. No idea if this is natural, like from a glacier, or man made. It was quite narrow and straight and went for at least half a mile. Odd.




Shortly there after the trail entered the White Memorial Conservation area which has a number of ponds. It looks like they were all originally the work of beavers, but stone dams were added later. There is still a lot of evidence of beaver activity. I found a nice rocky point near one to have lunch. Fortunately there was a breeze which kept the bugs at bay.

The trail looped around this pond, appropriately named Beaver pond, and here are some water lilies near the west shore.

Shortly before reaching RT 63 the trail (actually a woods road) swings by Heron pond. No signs of herons, but lots of beaver activity. I'm not sure why they felt they needed to reinforce the stone dam.

Nice hike all in all but a bit buggy. I tried using picaridin, which is an alternative to DEET. It did not work nearly as well. I'm sticking with DEET in the future. The hike was a bit over 8 miles and then I had a 7 mile bike back to the car. A multisport workout!